What is really necessary in the world? There are three real big things: oxygen, water, and sustenance.460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt5UQivUCMH
Right now, I didn't have much of all three.460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8me4rGsQBk
My heart was pounding. I didn't have the time to wipe the sweat that was running in rivulets down my face. I had been running for the past hour with no let up. I risk the quick glance over my shoulder to check on my pursuers. They were trying, but I was too far ahead. With the last vestiges of strength left in my burning calves, I pushed myself over the finish line.460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqck95sHOhM
"Time!" roared the instructor. "Hurry up, you pansies! Finish up this lap!"460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdyq7Q5d5QO
I felt my legs slowly giving out. I managed to stumble over to the water cooler where I collapsed under the spigot. As the water poured over my head, I heard someone shambling over to my final resting place.460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKiqs35o1Wg
"Damn, dude. You probably set a new track record."460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7razqTOF5g
Alex, our school's top athlete and my personal best friend, came over and fell down besides me.460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCCsxKJAOPd
"What, a record on how close someone's been to entering the light?"
He gave a laugh, and sat up.460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAPLTVXAq2U
"But still, how did you piss him off so much? He never makes us run for an hour." Alex's smile turned into a clouded frown.460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXWG5ETlKVM
"Oh, you know," came a sing-song voice from the shade, "Max is always getting into trouble."460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtFHYrZagFW
"Just shut up, Melissa." I groaned.460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPsZ4oPWEtz
Melissa Achinson. The premier bitch of the school. Everybody hates her. Except for the gym teacher. Everybody knows he sides with the girls about everything, the sexist bastard, but it's pretty funny to hear the rumours of somethin-somethin going on between him and some girl in the locker room.460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHgDmjkx3ZK
"Naughty. Are you being mean to me? I could go tell Mr. Rodriguez." Her grin was wider than the Cheshire Cat's.460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCuOlfteG6I
Alex slowly got up and headed towards her, but the class bell halted his progress. I knew that he was the only one who would take the wrath of Mr. Rodriguez, but punching his favorite student probably would be going over the top.
"Back off, Alex," I warned. "We don't need another reason to get extra laps."460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6U8TPsXNAx
He reluctantly came back to the water cooler where the other runners were. I pulled myself to my feet and the class started walking back towards the locker room.460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ21zh3QNrr1
"She needs to get hit by a bus," Alex quipped as we walked further away from the track.460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLRHPoUDLmj
I smiled at the thought. "Or at least break an ankle. That would shut her up."460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZCsm3SRWy7
I looked back at her posse of lemmings, and just as I did that, my heart felt like it was being crushed. My vision blurred and I grabbed my chest.460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRExLCuCgsO
"Yo, you alright?" Alex had his worry face on.460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNV8akYjjX8
"I told you, I'm seeing the light."460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGdRlqtacxq
He smiled and helped me steady myself. The pain was immense, and I thought I was actually having a heart attack. Then, suddenly, I could see fine. The pain disappeared, and I was back to staring at the bitch patrol.460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO2pxaeyPou
I was about to say something when I saw Melissa step wrong. Her foot was suddenly upside down, and a brutal crack echoed around the students, followed by a scream.460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvulG8ZoGxS
Mr. Rodriguez was instantly by her side, asking if she was ok, and checking on her foot. It was quite obvious that is was broken, as we could clearly see bone through the broken skin, but Mr. Rodriguez took his time before admitting that is was, in fact, a pretty nasty fracture.460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKppwp6KHPd
Alex had a look of pure glee on his face. "Oh, man. You called it," he kept saying. "You called it. Did you see that? That was friggin' awesome!"460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVEPeHFjaOD
"Dude, calm down. She just stepped wrong."460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAdlg52xLGc
"Uh-uh. No. There is no way that an ankle can just turn like that. You had to have done that. You are my hero." He turned towards me and started bowing down.460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡISN0HxwbAA
I put my elbow into his ribs. "Just shut up. I had nothing to do with that. Let's just go, we still have class.460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY8Kb9zizq3
It must've been a complete coincidence. There's no other way to explain it.460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJKSxLGDBCg
While walking home from school, I reflect on the day. I always do this, mainly to remember what homework I have to do. Today, there's one thing that stands out in my mind.460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrYcwR8aZcc
"How did she do it?" I asked myself.460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE7fwG3sRn7
It wasn't everyday when someone turns their ankle upside down, so this was pretty spectacular. Everyone at school knew by lunch, and someone was even able to snap a picture of the gruesome event. I know because it popped up on Twitter. Multiple times.460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcA5jg84KaQ
I reached the door of my house. I unlocked it and went in.460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbrxnLxEKt1
"K, I'm home!"460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvrSlgVw8Dp
Kaylee, or for me, K, is my little sister. She's a couple of years younger than me, so she goes to middle school. She looks almost exactly like me, but, mentally, we are completely different. I have a few hobbies I'm into. She has more than I care to count.460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNVhCdAGYyD
"I hear you broke someone's ankle."460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi4mu1v0qpw
"For God's sake, that wasn't me." It was frustrating having everyone congratulate me for doing something that can't be done by a human.460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7tzqgx6CVy
"Well, anyway, good job on that," she congratulated me.460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbf6lxlVAAo
I found her lying in front of the tv, watching some foreign cartoon.460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzSYE5G7HRR
"Can you not watch that weird stuff when I'm around?"460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5vgXxMYK2R
"Please," she begged, "just let me finish this episode. It's the newest episode of Henneko. It just came out." She looked up at me with pleading eyes.460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIPa3MlFOIN
"Fine," I sighed. "Did they bring something for dinner?"460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlgWxz6ddT1
K had already turned back to the tv. "Yeah, it looks like chicken."460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmiDeYNYwTk
"They" was out parents. They were almost never home. They usually just restocked the fridge and brought dinner for when we got home. We've gotten used to living mostly on our own.460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBYlyR7rPuD
"I'll be in my room if you need me." I called as I headed up the stairs.460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfEFkB0HprD
I reached my room and immediately went to my computer. My computer was my life away from school. After all the work I had put into getting it, it should be my main priority. I logged on and was watching some youtube, checking in with my friends, when I saw an email pop up. It was Alex.460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9RjUKTvIeq
Dude, you're famous. Everyone at track was talking about you. You're gonna have a parade when you get back to school.460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLzAAsRYXit
I rolled my eyes as I clicked the delete button. I didn't want to deal with the fact that I was now the magical ankle breaker.460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIyNMq03sVs
I stayed up in my room for an hour while I watched my cult following grow, then I walked down to the kitchen to get dinner ready. All that I had to do was microwave the chicken, so I decided to start with our side, which, by a random selection, turned out to be broccoli.460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡam8IWJvWWp
"Seriously, are we really going to have broccoli?" K complained as I told her the menu.460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9TX4wx9LTy
"This is the last of the broccoli. Once we finish it, they won't bring any for a while."460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHGE0WdkBV7
K's frown lessened as she saw the logic in my plan, and finally, after a good minute, nodded her head.460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqeg2eVOke5
"Good," I said gently, as if I was talking to my own child, "I'm glad we could agree on this."460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiBO9B7LB4I
She rolled her eyes and flipped me off before heading back to the tv.460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5h3Sz10FmM
I smiled and went back to the kitchen as I finished preparing our dinner.460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl25K4SEEMD
While I was putting everything on plates, K came back in to help me. She got out the utensils and grabbed her plate of food. I grabbed my plate and followed her out to the couch. We sat in silence as we munched on our food.460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzYYtpLAWI4
"Hey, what really happened at the school?"460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Iitn2D6T7
I looked up from my plate. K had set her plate down and was looking at me with an intent look on her face.460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6sl7RxGkV9
"Honestly," I admitted, "I don't know. I was walking with Alex and we were joking about what terrible things could happen to Melissa. I turn around and suddenly she's got a broken ankle."460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6SUdrfw1QQ
"I don't think that's all of it." She was looking like a scholar trying to figure out an especially hard problem. "It's just not possible for her to completely flip her ankle. I mean, the foot can't do that. It's not made that way."460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4aJFXFFj4t
"Well, there has to be some explanation for it. Is not like I had a heart attack and that caused her to break it."460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0fwiXTcWnK
"Wait," she sat up, "you had a heart attack?"460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOsDoeFz4p3
"I don't know. It sure as hell felt like one, though."460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMXw03qzADq
She stood up and grabbed her plate. "It might just be me, but I think you have magic powers, bro."460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbDxajLv5gX
I made a face. "I've told you a billion times. Don't call me "bro". It feels weird."460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm6jXXvvuTv
"I know," she smiled, "but I'll do it anyway. I got the dishes tonight."460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVgQec4Qmj1
She picked up my plate and skipped into the kitchen. I sat down and looked through what was playing on tv. The only things that were playing were news, so I switched to our Netflix account. I pulled up a movie and waited for K to finish putting the dishes in the dishwasher. She finished up and came out to the living room, she saw the movie and a smile appeared on her face. It was one that we always used to watch when we were little.460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9JljHjY9NG
She crawled onto the the couch and snuggled up against me. I hit the remote and the the familiar credits started appearing on the screen. Even though we had seen it more times than we cared to count, the acting seemed just as fresh.460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaGXMwtai1k
We were silent throughout the movie. It was a pleasant flick, and it brought back memories for both of us. When the movie was finally over, we both got up and stretched. I quickly checked the time. It was almost 11.460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡED647pKRrA
"Hey, we still have school tomorrow," I said. "Get ready for bed. I'm going to quickly put the dishes away."460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1xgAqyy2Qh
K just nodded as she sleepily rubbed her eyes. I patted her on the head and she went off to her room. I grabbed our plates from the dishwasher and set them back in the cabinet. I could hear K splashing around in the shower, and I thought about how hard it is to function without parents all the time.460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4swU00OwCA
I walked over to my room, where I took off my shirt and threw it in the laundry. I could feel my muscles tightening up as I walked to my own bathroom, where I got in the shower. The hot water pouring over my body did wonders to my worn out calves.460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOFt9ThaUYZ
When I finished with the shower, I brushed my teeth, and walked over to my bed. I got in it and just stared at the ceiling before reaching over and turning off the light. The room plunged into darkness, and all I could do was let sleep overtake my weary body.460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNNxfSpIw4o
